I'm lying on the pavement and the last thing i recall
Picked up by the arms and legs and taken from the hall
For squaring up to culture in the circle and the stall
All because there playing Wagner at the opera X2
Hurt can make you act without apology or regret
Over half century a but still i can't forget
Ideology makes a mockery of a string quartet
All because there playing Wagner at the opera X2
When they came to take me i was standing on a chair
I can't keep quiet i have something to declare
Listen to my rattle, for my rattle says beware
All because there playing Wagner at the opera X2
A rattle for remembering the rattle of the chains
A rattle for remembering the rattle of the trains
From war's down the decades to hell and home again
All because there playing Wagner at the opera X2
For everyone we lost a swing the rattle loud and long
A swing it till i drown out all the music and the songs
this rattle will last forever and my memory is long
Here's to no more playing Wagner at the opera X3